Villanova Wildcats didn’t need a head football coach in the summer of 1987, still fresh from an 8-1 season that came only two years after the program was reinstated.
But they could use an assistant coach, writes Ben Istvan for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
For that job, they tapped Mark Ferrante, an assistant at Lafayette who played quarterback at St. Lawrence.
Thirty-seven years later, Ferrante now heads one of the area’s most storied football programs, and he’s not leaving.
Ferrante, who opened his 38th season Aug. 29 with a 24-17 victory over Youngstown State, was named head coach in 2017.
He led the team’s offensive line for 27 seasons and spent several years as the associate head coach.
Ferrante has stayed 40 years with the same program in a time when coaches frequently move around.
“I don’t feel it’s a job,” Ferrante said. “I tell people all the time, ‘I don’t feel I’ve worked a day in my life.’”
Ferrante has guided the Wildcats to two conference titles in the Coastal Athletic Association and the quarterfinals of the playoffs last season.
Coming off a 10-3 season, the Wildcats were picked to win the CAA again this year.
Read more about Mark Ferrante’s coaching career in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
